Socket set tool recommendations?

Hi all,

Last night I came back from work to find my garage had been broken in to. Bizarrely, there was no sign of the cut/picked padlock on the floor anywhere and the door was closed and latched (perhaps by a kindly passer by, I suppose) albeit not padlocked. There was no mess/damage and thankfully the bike appears untouched. Also, it looks like they (or more likely, he, judging by the small amount he could carry)were disturbed before they made off with the torque wrenches, spanner trays etc. (which were piled up by the door ready to take, but for some reason left). I haven't had a chance to have a real root through, but the police are sending someone round and want me not to touch anything till then (I've re-padlocked the door, mind).

Anyway, the long and short of this is, that it's predominantly a tool box full of sockets and wrenches which has been taken. I've made an inventory of what I can remember of it and it looks like it's about £250 worth. This was built up over a number of years, buying bits/rails of sockets as and when I needed them to do a particular job. Now that they need to be replaced in one fell swoop, I imagine it'll be cheaper/possibly result in a more comprehensive tool set to buy a ready made socket set and then just fill in the odd bits I need like torx security bits, etc.

I've not checked what the excess on my home insurance policy is yet/decided whether to claim or not, but either way, I will be looking to replace the tools soon. They were Halfords professional, which I really liked, but one thing that annoyed me was that most of the 3/8" drive sockets were 12-sided, rather than hex. I'd like to replace it with something similar, but ideally with 6-sided sockets. Anyone have any recommendations of a particular set that might fit the bill for under £250? Ideally one that can be fitted into a lockable tool chest (which in future will be locked and ground anchored to the floor when not in use!). Would I be better off just getting a lockable tool chest and replacing the parts like for like, bar the 12-sided sockets? I suppose the whole thing has been an exercise in clearing out tools I don't really need like the (useless on an SV) spark plug sockets.

Oh yes, as soon as the police have been, I'll be making it like fort knox before actually replacing the tools, don't you worry.

[G]

Sorry to hear that

Your excess for a claim like that will probably be £50 and as long as you keep the claim under £499 it shouldnt effect your renewal price, I have claimed for broken glasses before.

On another note the halfords proffesional 150pc socket set will do you nicely, you could strip an SV down with everything in it.

Its normally £150 but is often put down to £99 at this time of year. If there is anything you want in particular that isnt in there you will have some money left over to get it.

Maybe buy a ground anchor :P

Sorry to hear this, but on the bright side ... it coulda been worse ... they could have made off with the rest of the tools, and the bike?!

Sorry no recommendations ... although i've heard/read that the Halfords Professional range are pretty good

Sorry to hear this. I have the Halfords Pro Socket set and think it's great. Hope they don't come back for more.

some good deals in tools on show in broadway cardiff, i got a drapper expert socket set £125 down to £50

most peeps seem happy with halfords pro though

Could have been worse I suppose but the worry is the gits will be back to finish off the job. And they may wait until you've got new stuff to pinch.

Weren't you the guy who went away on holiday and forgot to lock his garage or is my frazzled memory playing up again.

I like Teng tools stuff.

[northwind]

The Halfords Pro stuff is good. I like Teng Tools, but I couldn't really back that up with any good reasoning, it's just good quality, nice to use stuff. The Clarke Professional stuff is perfectly decent too, it's not posh but it works well and you get a really good choice from Machine Mart outlets. Half of my stuff is Clarke, their basic range is a little bit nasty but the Pro stuff is as good as I need.

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

Could have been worse I suppose but the worry is the gits will be back to finish off the job. And they may wait until you've got new stuff to pinch.

I believe the coppers have actually caught them. 2 guys caught breaking into cars on my road the same night. The police were supposed to of called round last night, but should be here at some point today. I'll talk to them about this more, but they were found using a hammer to break in. I had a rather distinct hickory-handled hammer in the tool box, so if thats what they found on them, it's almost certainly the same guys. It looks like they broke in for the tools to break into the cars, rather than to steal the tools themselves. Hopefully, if it turns out to be the same guys, I should be alright. In any event, the garage security will be seriously overhauled...

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

Weren't you the guy who went away on holiday and forgot to lock his garage or is my frazzled memory playing up again.

That'd be the one. Fortunately it was the garden side one (and we have v. high walls). This was in from the lane and it was definately locked; since the last bit of idiocy, I've been meticulous in checking it's locked (not that it's done me much good!).

Originally Posted by petevtwin650

I like Teng tools stuff.

Me too. Thankfully, my small 1/4" drive Teng socket set is sat in the boot of my car (normally it goes in the tool chest) as I'd been having problems with the car battery. If it had been a week earlier/later, they'd of had that too! Does Teng stuff have a lifetime warranty?

Ta Pete.

With this in mind and my happiness with the current Teng stuff, they are certainly in the running, although I've just had a reccy to Halfords and £120 would get me 2 drawers worth of sockets (1 set of 1/4" & 3/8", another of 1/2"), which'd be more than I had before (albeit with no duplicates, which I did intentionally have of some) and would replace 80% of the stuff in one fell swoop. Also, they would fit neatly in a lockable tool chest. The other 20% of stuff is only £80-100 worth of stuff.
I've gradually been going through the tools and the figure was actually nearer £350 than my initla guess (and probably actually even higher). I keep on remembering the odd tool now and then. I think I'll go through the Haynes and check what tools are needed for each job to jog my memory.

As to attaching a tool chest to the deck/walls; what's the best way to go about this? I had envisioned chaining a lockable chest to a ground anchor, but the handles on most of them look rather flimsy in terms of securing them. I take it the best way is removing the drawers, then from the inside of the chest, drilling into the wall and floor and then securing it with big masonry bolts, then putting the drawers back in, so when it's locked, the bolts are inaccessible?